Abu Dhabi-based nonprofit blockchain organisation ADI Foundation and digital asset developer SAGINT have announced a global partnership to bring SAGINT's Digital Warehouse Receipt technology to ADI Chain, creating a verifiable digital record for critical minerals as they move from producers to warehouses, buyers and across borders.

The partnership is designed to address one of the most persistent challenges in commodities trading: proving where a material came from, who has held it and who has control over it as it moves through the supply chain.

ADI Foundation will serve as SAGINT's exclusive channel participant, helping to introduce producers, warehouses, traders and other market participants to the SAGINT network across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and other markets.

SAGINT International CEO Troy Fitrell says trust in trade should not depend on a stamp on a piece of paper. With ADI, the proof travels with the material, lot by lot, across every border. "Producers can reach financing, lenders and insurers can see what they are backing, while governments can see their own resources clearly," he notes.

ADI Foundation principal council member Ajay Bhatia adds that trade has never lacked goods but it has lacked proof that travels with them. "When that proof moves with the material, finance can follow. Bringing the Digital Warehouse Receipt to ADI Chain gives our network a record that authorised lenders, insurers or customs officers can verify for themselves.

"As SAGINT's exclusive channel participant worldwide, we look forward to bringing the first organisations onto the network," Bhatia states.

HOW IT WORKS

SAGINT’s Digital Warehouse Receipt replaces fragmented paper records with a secure digital record for each lot of material. The system captures information including origin, quantity, custody and assay data, allowing authorised participants to verify the information relevant to them while protecting commercially sensitive data.

By recording these records and associated events on ADI Chain, participants across different markets can rely on a shared, verifiable record rather than separate documents held by individual counterparties. The result is intended to make critical minerals easier to finance, insure and trade by increasing confidence in the assets underlying those transactions.

The opportunity is significant. The International Energy Agency valued the global market for key energy-transition minerals at about $325-billion in 2023.

Simultaneously, access to trade finance remains constrained: the Asian Development Bank estimates the global trade finance gap at $2.5-trillion, while the African Development Bank estimates unmet trade finance demand in Africa at between $74-billion and $92-billion.

The partnership also supports ADI Foundation’s work with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat to develop digital trade infrastructure across Africa, including infrastructure designed to improve verification of trade documentation and expand businesses’ ability to access financing against inventory and other certified assets.

EXAMPLE IN PRACTICE

SAGINT has issued Digital Warehouse Receipts for production material since January this year, having started with refined rare earth oxide produced by ReElement Technologies.